Month: December 2017

If anything, 2017 was a quotable year. Here are four that sum up a year’s worth of news in the Hawkeye State. SEXUAL HARASSMENT “Several of the staff members interviewed indicated they possess a fear of retaliation, which is why they did not feel comfortable reporting any instances of harassment.” — Senate GOP internal report on sexual harassment at the Statehouse. Although several quotes surrounding the Iowa Senate Republican Caucus sexual harassment scandal that put taxpayers on the hook for $1.75 million could be used — many of them absurdities uttered by Senate Majority Leader Bill Dix as he has repeatedly attempted to whitewash bad behavior — this statement from the GOP’s internal investigation is most troubling. To date, no one has been held accountable and Statehouse employees, which include teenage…

Gusts of sharp December wind remind newspaper folk everywhere that its time for a year-end review. I’ll play along, but with a gift-giving twist. Instead of reviewing my work, which is too often a cringe-worthy experience, I’ve instead been plowing through your email messages to me. Kind comments, some of which helped me through difficult moments, once again had my eyes filling. I stand in awe of your quick wit and your generous spirit. Some feedback was brutal, constructive or otherwise, yet the vast majority of dissenting views focused on my words and not me. It’s an exceptional gift that far too few writers can claim, and a testament to a widespread desire for more civility and thoughtful dialogue. Within the messages I also discovered a pattern of questions and…

A United Nations team investigating extreme poverty and human rights toured the U.S. and found cause for concern. “The United States is one of the world’s richest, most powerful and technologically innovative countries; but neither its wealth nor its power nor its technology is being harnessed to address the situation in which 40 million people continue to live in poverty,” Philip Alston, the UN’s lead on extreme poverty and human rights, wrote in a report published Dec. 15. Alston’s team, which was invited by the Trump administration to tour the country, traveled through California, Alabama, Georgia, Puerto Rico, West Virginia and Washington, D.C. and spoke with a wide variety of people, including government officials, local nonprofit leaders and those living in poverty. “My visit coincides with a dramatic change of direction…

Americans are waking up to a new reality, one in which farmers are killing themselves in record numbers. Residents also should know that members of Congress have been aware, but have refused to provide help. A study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found people working in agriculture — farmers, laborers, ranchers, fishers and other harvesters — take their own lives at a rate higher than any other occupation. Data suggests that suicide rates for agricultural workers in 17 states is nearly five times higher than the general population. In some states, according to Newsweek, the suicide rate for farmers is greater than for military veterans. And, when compared to studies from the 1980s farm crisis, which captured suicide rate peaks in 1982 at 58 for every 100,000 farmers and ranchers,…

Some may view it as a setback, but I think renewed interest in the word feminism is women (and men) finally deciding for themselves. Each year, the Merriam-Webster Dictionary selects one word that received increased attention and interest throughout the year, naming it as the “Word of the Year.” Not surprisingly, given the current state of our union, the word for 2017 is “feminism.” The word was one of the top lookups throughout the year, increasing by 70 percent from 2016. “The general rise in lookups tells us that many people are interested in this word; specific spikes give us insight into some of the reasons why,” Merriam-Webster explains on its website. It began with the Women’s March last January, and continues amid allegations of sexual harassment and assault. That has…

Alabama election results made clear that anti-abortion no longer is the equivalent of pro-life. The professional number-crunchers will have their say in the days to come, tweezing out drilled down demographics. But the campaign strategy embraced by Roy Moore and his allies reveals new insights into an ongoing cultural shift, one expedited by religious conservatives’ embrace of President Donald Trump. In a nutshell, dire warnings about candidates’ stances on abortion don’t hold the weight they once did. Millions of dollars — $1.1 million from one pro-Trump super PAC alone — were pumped into the Alabama special election to remind voters that Democratic candidate Doug Jones favors abortion rights. The warnings were issued within ads on social media, television, newspapers and direct mail. “Jones is so liberal he supports abortion even…

Forget all the pop culture “mean girl” nonsense you’ve heard about sororities. The women of Beta Psi Eta at Cornell College are do-gooders with only a few more days to meet a lofty philanthropic goal. At the beginning of the academic year sorority members responded to a call from an alumna employed by the Marion Independent School District. The school had changed its policy regarding school lunches, and students with negative account balances could be denied a hot meal. “Most of us, at one point or another, have had a moment when we couldn’t have food at lunch through no fault of our own. It’s not fair to punish a child for something they have no control over. We don’t want any child to be hungry,” said Sara Renaud, Beta…

Survivors of sexual harassment and assault didn’t need a magazine cover story to justify or validate ongoing cultural shifts. Blunt and comprehensive cover stories are for the naysayers, “witch hunt” proclaimers, perpetrators and apologists who mistakenly believe this movement toward a more equal society is either overblown or will soon run its course. “This is just the start. I’ve been saying from the beginning it’s not a moment, it’s a movement. Now the work really begins,” Tarana Burke, mother of the #MeToo movement, told Time magazine. The publication named as its persons of the year “The Silence Breakers” — those who could no longer stomach merely whispering about serial perpetrators of sexual harassment and assault. These women and the millions more they represent don’t need a cover story to understand the depth and…

Janesville Republican Sandy Salmon wants to reverse a court ruling that requires doctors and other medical professionals to tell pregnant parents the truth. As a guest columnist on the Caffeinated Thoughts blog, state Rep. Salmon said she plans to introduce a bill that will prohibit “wrongful birth” lawsuits in the Hawkeye State, effectively clearing the way for health care professionals to withhold vital fetal health information from pregnant women and their partners. “Wrongful birth” cases, as I’ve written before, involve pregnancies in which physicians or other medical professionals have access to test results, not disclosed to parents, indicating the child will face severe disabilities. In the case decided by the Iowa Supreme Court, for instance, abnormalities discovered during an ultrasound were not discussed. The parents were instead led to believe “everything was fine”…

Legislative page program should be paused until Statehouse culture changes Each year the Iowa Senate, House and Legislative Services Agency employ high school juniors and seniors as pages. Unless persistent and significant workplace culture questions are answered, 2018 should be an exception. It’s been nearly five months since an Iowa court found that Kirsten Anderson, a former Iowa Senate Republican caucus staff member, was wrongfully terminated hours after she reported sexual harassment. It’s been more than a month since the state settled the case without an appeal, agreeing to pay Anderson and her attorneys $1.75 million from the state’s coffers. To date, no one has been held accountable. [caption id="attachment_1419" align="alignleft" width="500"] A portion of the Iowa Senate GOP's internal investigation report atop a picture of the Iowa Statehouse.[/caption] Perhaps…